


Separate, But Together

by Cyber_Kainer



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst, I’m not actually sure if angst should be tagged but they’re both really scared and emotional so, M/M, bleeding and concussions in the third chapter, incest humor?? in the second chapter, why am I not able to tag each individual chapter for different things it’s a little weird imho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:35:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21939796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyber_Kainer/pseuds/Cyber_Kainer
Summary: Vanitas wants to fuse with Ventus, and Ventus hates Vanitas. However, at the slight suggestion that they could try to get along, both of them work themselves up in a cocktail of mixed feelings.Decided to make this my entry for VanVen Week Day 4, I’d written it already but never posted it, and it seemed fitting for the Together and Phobia prompts.
Relationships: Vanitas/Ventus (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 26





	1. We’ll Make It Work

**Author's Note:**

> Critiques welcome, I’m not sure if I went a little too ham on making it overly emotional.

A simple suggestion.

In the Realm of Darkness, the Riku Replica could see Vanitas’s yearning for Ventus. The need to become one…? But Ventus didn’t want that. Vanitas wanted something that he could never have. He had to understand there could be another way, right?

In the Realm of Light, Naminé could see Ventus had an ache he tried to ignore. A residual pain from no longer having Sora there to fill the missing piece of his heart. Although he would bristle up at the mention of Vanitas, Naminé could see the pain under the surface.

A simple suggestion. That’s all it was.  
If they ever met again, they should meet halfway. Be seperate people, but be physically close.

Vanitas wanted to scream at the replica’s stupid suggestion. He could never feel alright again without merging with Ventus! But… Once he humored the thought, he couldn’t deny that it had appeal to it. But it would never work. Ventus had every reason to hate him, and even if he didn’t, who would want the darkness of their own heart around if they could be without it? The realization that even an alternative was impossible made him feel even worse. He was angry and yearned for Ventus before, but now he was stricken with an overwhelming sadness.

Ventus felt sick at Naminé’s advice. He reassured himself that they’d never cross paths again, but… A part of him wondered if Vanitas would ever agree to it. The curiosity gnawed at his mind. He didn’t want Vanitas around. He’d be glad to never see his face again, but he somehow felt guilt and pity over the situation. After everything they’ve been through, he didn’t owe his other half anything, but Sora had given Ventus a second chance… What would Vanitas do with another chance if he was actually removed from people like Xeanort?

Neither one of them expected to ever be face-to-face again. Ventus much less ever expected to see Vanitas in any situation where he hadn’t come to kill him, but Riku found him while hunting down his replica counterpart.

Seeing each other again, their hearts sank. They sank down into their stomachs, twisting and turning in a torrent of nauseous feelings.

How long had he stood there on the beach of Destiny Islands… eyes locked with Vanitas’s? Everyone else had left to allow them to sort it out. Ventus just didn’t know how to feel, though. He felt… cornered, like he was going to be sick. He knew this wouldn’t work, and Vanitas had done so much to hurt him and his friends, why should he try anyway? But his heart panged… He should at least try, right?

Vanitas was faring no better. He was focused on keeping his breath steady, running the scenarios through his head over and over. No matter what he tried to say, he couldn’t help but imagine it breaking into a fight. As it stood, both of them had to fight back the instinct to rush to the other, keyblade in hand to strike the first blow. Vanitas knew it would come to that, but he at least wanted to see. If he was doomed to fail, he wanted to watch it happen. But he didn’t want that to happen...

Ventus flinched when Vanitas suddenly dropped his head and let out a sigh. “This is a lot harder than he made it sound like it was going to be…”

Reluctantly, Ventus steadied himself and replied. “Who? The replica? What do you even want, coming back with them like this?”

Vanitas simply pushed sand around with his foot and clenched his jaw. He had a hundred different things he could say, but none of them felt right.

Ventus took a breath to steady himself. “Well… you haven’t attacked me or told me to fuse with you.”

Vanitas balled his hands into fists and stared at the sand. He had to breathe. He had to focus. Push back instincts and at least try to make this work.

Ventus rubbed his eyes as tears started to well up. He was scared, but he looked out to Vanitas and took a cautious step forward. Vanitas’s eyes jumped to Ventus’s, an expression of suspicion splayed across his face. Ventus clenched his fists, took another breath, and stepped a bit closer.

Vanitas came to full attention, staring Ventus down as he cautiously approached.

“N...Naminé suggested… Well…” Ventus stopped within arm’s reach of Vanitas. He was shaking and couldn’t go any further. “If you’re not here to attack me. Maybe…”

Vanitas let out a shaky breath, though he tried to make it come across as a snort. “Naminé… Isn’t that the girl that stupid replica never shuts up about? I bet she had the same idea as him. Tch...” He glared out towards the trees on the hill, trying not to make eye contact with his other.

“And… what idea would that be?”

Both of them tensed up, obviously hoping the other would say it.

“Well… What did you think of the girl’s idea?” Vanitas was just stalling at this point. No matter what, he knew they were going to fight… Maybe he could delay it a little longer. Have some time with his “brother”.

Ventus bit his lip, trying to find the right words. “Well… W...Well…” He didn’t like the idea. It made him scared and uncomfortable. But… He really wanted to know if Vanitas would ever consider it. He had to be considering it, right? Unless… the replica had suggested something different…

“What… did you think of the replica’s idea?” Ventus flinched at the glare Vanitas gave him. Vanitas wanted to punch him so much, but then everything would be over.

Vanitas dug his nails into his palms and gritted his teeth as his breath grew more shallow. He wasn’t going to cry. He was NOT going to cry. He’d been to hell and back, been through way worse than this, he was NOT going to cry. Not HERE. Not over THIS.

This feeling… he was certain this was “hope”, but wasn’t that supposed to be a good emotion? It made him sick. He shuddered and gripped his chest. “Not now… stay put…”

“Vanitas…?”

“STAY BACK.” He growled. “The Unversed…” He hissed and pulled at his hair. “Not now, not now, stay put…”

Vanitas jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Bright yellow eyes met blue. Both filled with fear, both on the verge of crying. As an Unversed flopped to the ground between them, Vanitas started trembling, trying not to fall apart then and there.

Cautiously, Ventus put his other hand on Vanitas’s other shoulder. The flood beneath them stared up at them, and both were grateful although a little confused that it wasn’t attacking.

Slowly, Ventus came closer. Carefully, he let his arms pull behind the other. As their chests pressed together, they could feel the beats of each other’s hearts, almost as if they were pulling towards each other. Ventus rested his head on the other’s shoulder. It was shaking. He knew Vanitas was crying, but he didn’t say anything. He wasn’t the only one, anyway… Ventus wasn’t shaking, but the tears finally managed to slide down his face.

The other raised his arms clumsily, trying to return the gesture, but… he just couldn’t. After struggling to keep himself quiet and trying to gently put his hands on Ventus, Vanitas’s arms slumped and he quietly sobbed. Ventus traced circles across his back in a comforting manner.

“I don’t… want to be fused with you, Vanitas, but…” Ventus looked down at the sand. Both of their hearts were pounding… He thought… That maybe this could work out after all. He thought he could feel what Vanitas was feeling.

Ventus steadied his breath. “But… maybe we could be together in a different way.” He jumped when Vanitas’s hands swung up, desperately grasping at Ventus’s back. He was crying full force, now. Ventus thought he might be crushed with how tightly Vanitas held him, but he shushed him gently as he continued to stroke circles across his back.

Vanitas couldn’t help himself. He was in denial, this couldn’t have worked out! It’s not possible! His heart ached, and his eyes burned, so unaccustomed to being allowed to cry. Crippling fear, nauseating hope, denial forcing itself over the feeling of relief, it was too much. Too many feelings, all at once, all while he was trying so hard to keep himself together to keep the situation from falling apart. It was like a sudden explosion to a carefully constructed dam, he felt like he was drowning, and the feeling as if he had no control to stop it made it that much worse.

More floods fell out as he cried, and just like the first, they just sat and watched the two of them. Vanitas was loud… some of it was sobs, but when he got too choked up, he’d catch a breath and start screaming. He did this a few times before Ventus’s legs gave out from trying to support both their weight.

They fell over in a thud, sending sand flying a little. The floods came up, and Ventus was scared for a moment before they started chirruping and nuzzling against Vanitas. One or two even rubbed up against Ventus, but most of them put their attention on their master.

It was all still frightening to Ventus. The way Vanitas crushed him, pulled at him, it seemed like he didn’t actually know how to hug, or that he was too desperate for the contact, or maybe that… some part of him still wanted to tear Ventus apart. The way he screamed, he sounded so angry, but the way he sobbed made it sound like he just lost a loved one. Although Ventus’s heart was starting to settle at least a little, Vanitas’s was growing more and more erratic.

The only hint of anything peaceful or happy coming from Vanitas were the Unversed, which were piling up higher and higher, each one being calm and nuzzling against the two of them.

“I don’t… really get what’s happening, but I’m gonna take this as a yes, okay?” Ventus had to wheeze it out from the weight of Vanitas and all his Unversed crushing him. He thought Vanitas’s grip tried to tighten, though it couldn't actually get any tighter than this, and even though he didn’t hear a response, he could feel Vanitas’s head nod.

Ventus’s eyes started to tear up again as he realized that Vanitas… he was afraid, too. They were both scared, but both wanted to give this a shot…

They lied there for several more minutes, just crying and feeling each others’ heartbeats pull to one another. The sensation was different from a normal hug. It was as if two magnets were stuck together, yet still separated by thick paper. They would have stayed in that same state for hours or longer, but the Unversed had started wandering off and scaring people, so Riku came looking for them.


	2. Holding Cursed Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanitas has spent a long time wanting to be together again with Ventus. It didn’t work out how he’d wanted, which he was okay with, but he didn’t expect the side effects to come with being “together” in this way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a second chapter I’d already made for this. It’s not relevant to the VanVen Week prompts, but the third chapter will be. Unless I separate that as it’s own one-shot...?
> 
> Also Vanitas might be uncharacteristically dense here, I just like the idea that he doesn’t know about obvious things since he spent most of his existence following Xehanort around, not having a normal life in the slightest.

Ventus thought his fingers were going to go numb if Vanitas didn’t let go of his hand eventually, but through the whole week, he couldn’t get him to let go. Ventus tried to pry him off and Vanitas tried to let go multiple times, but every time they tried, he’d start crying, and then the Unversed would start popping out, and all things considered, it was just easier to let Vanitas hold Ventus’s hand. Even though it was inconvenient and awkward sometimes…

“Jeez… you two really have it this bad, huh?” Roxas shook his head and tried not to laugh as Vanitas glared holes into the ground. Despite how much the situation embarrassed him, he just couldn’t let go.

“Well look at it this way, there’s no way anyone will get you and Ventus mixed up now.” Axel chimed in, the two smirking at each other. The boys thought it was pretty funny, but Xion couldn’t help but feel bad for Ventus and Vanitas.

“There’s really no way you two can let go?”

“Not without him cr-“ Before Ventus could explain, he felt a crippling blow to his side. “FUCK… WHAT?”

“Let me salvage what little dignity I still have left, idiot!”

The two glared at each other as two thirds of the sea salt trio laughed at their antics. The third was staring at the ground in deep thought.

After a moment, she walked up to Ventus and pulled off his wristband before turning to Vanitas and putting it on his free hand and looking up to him. “How about now?”

Vanitas bit his lip as he turned to meet Ventus’s mutually trepid gaze. He squeezed tighter before trying to loosen his grip… he thought it wasn’t working, but he looked down to the wristband. He pushed it against his hip to try and lower it down partially into his hand, and started stroking the fabric.

He looked back to Ventus’s hand. Ventus had completely let go, and Vanitas was able to loosen his grip a little more than usual, but… it was still no use. He slumped in defeat.

Vanitas tightened his grip again and even swung his other arm around to wrap around Ventus’s arm and nuzzled him slightly, pretending he was going to cry. “Ugh, we’re trapped together forever, brother.”

Ventus cringed. “I told you… to stop calling me that…”

“Bro~ther~” Vanitas sniggered at the way that made Ventus’s skin crawl as he flailed around, trying half-heartedly to shake his alter-ego off.

“Huh? Why does that bother you? It sounds cute.” Xion asked.

“It’s… it’s just… I don’t know, it feels… weird!” Most of these guys might be pretty naive, but Axel noticed the way Ventus bit his lips, how his face grew slightly flushed. Axel shook his head. This kid had no idea how bad he had it.

Axel looked down to see a wry look on Roxas’s face… wait… did he understand it, too?

“I have an idea. What if it’s like a curse?” Ventus and Vanitas looked at him with a worried expression. Axel did too, but for a different reason.

“What do you mean? We’ll be stuck like this forever? Is this the only way we can get along?” Ventus looked to Roxas with a pleading expression, and Roxas would be lying if he said it wasn’t odd to see his own face look at him that way. But he laughed and shook his head.

“Well… not exactly. Remember when we were still in Sora’s heart? There was that girl he met, and her friend, Kristoff, said she had to go kiss her true love to break the spell.” Roxas tried not to laugh as Ventus choked out strange noises. His face lit up like a Christmas tree. Vanitas, however…

“Kiss…? What’s that?”

“Don’t tell him-“ Ventus managed to choke out.

“What, do you just like being stuck to me that badly?” Vanitas rolled his eyes. Whatever this “kiss” thing was couldn’t be as bad as what they’ve been through all week already.

“It’s not that, it’s just… I-I mean… that’s kind of a…” Ventus fumbled over his words. Kissing Vanitas… Could he really kiss him?

“‘Kissing’ someone’s ‘true love’... That’s… something you do with someone who’s the most important to you?”

“Well… er… I guess…” Ventus chewed on his lip, thinking that explanation was too simple, but it basically summed it up, right?

“Kissing someone is a kind of embrace, like holding hands or hugging, but more intimate!” Xion chimed in.

“X-Xion, don’t… don’t tell him-“

“Shut up, Ventus. How do I kiss him?” Before anyone could answer him though, the two started squirming and fighting again. This time it was Xion and Roxas laughing as Axel shifted awkwardly. They would have tried to break it up, but from past experience, everybody found that breaking up a fight between these two was about as productive as trying to keep a pair of cats from fighting.

They punched and kicked, even bit each other a couple times, all while still holding hands. It was ridiculous, all things considered. Through the whole thing, Vanitas was trying to violently hug Ventus in an attempt to figure out how to kiss him, which at one point resulted in Ventus getting pinned down as his legs flailed.

They were hopeless.

Ignoring the chaos, Axel nudged Roxas. “You don’t. Really think a kiss would let them let go, right?”

He shrugged. “I thought the shock might make Vanitas let go, but he doesn’t even know what it is, so I guess not.” He put his fingers in front of his chin in thought. “Then again…”

“You saw it, huh?” Axel rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

“Saw what?” Xion asked.

“Ventus has a crush on Vanitas” Roxas replied bluntly, resulting in a loud, embarrassed noise from Ventus.

“Y..You- I don’t…!”

“A crush? You want me to crush you?”

“AUGH!” Ventus pushed Vanitas off of him and pinned him down. “You want to know what a kiss is so badly?!”

Axel’s face grew bright red as he tried to block Roxas and Xion’s views of the scene, though his scrawny frame wasn’t very effective for it.

Ventus’s lips crashed down on Vanitas’s. Ventus tensed up, but his other half didn’t seem to process what was going on. He just didn’t get it, but he tried to press his face into Ventus’s to reciprocate. Ventus was trembling… holding hands was one thing, but he couldn’t believe he was really doing this…

He tilted his head and tried to goad Vanitas’s mouth open, though he didn’t get the hint. Ventus licked the other’s lips, and after a moment of confusion, Vanitas licked Ventus back, although it was across his face and not just on the lips. Ventus wanted to black out from how dense Vanitas was being right now… he really couldn’t believe it.

He brought his hands up to hold Vanitas’s face, pulling a little so his lips stayed parted. He slid his tongue in, meeting with teeth at first until Vanitas opened up to let him explore. He tried to mimic what Ventus was doing with his tongue, though he couldn’t really figure out what was happening.

Whatever it was… it felt nice, Vanitas thought. Since he didn’t know what to do with his tongue, he wrapped his arms around Ventus to bring him into a hug. He understood hugs well enough, at least.

Vanitas tried to figure out what parts of this were causing such nice sensations, but before he could figure it out, Ventus suddenly pushed himself off of him and turned his back to him. He buried his face in his hands. “I… I can’t believe we…” Ventus had felt that he was going to lose himself in the sensations… Roxas had to have been wrong about the crush, right? Right?!

Vanitas wiped some saliva from his face and licked his lips. After a moment, he looked down at his hands, then back up to Ventus. “Well, I don’t know what just happened, but it worked.”

“Huh?” Ventus turned back to Vanitas, still hiding his face some behind his shoulder.

“Our. Our hands.” He raised the hand that had been conjoined with Ventus’s all week, wiggling the fingers in display. He then used it to tug Ventus’s wristband back into place on his other hand, the one that had been free all week. It took a minute for Ventus to process what he was looking at, but once he did…

He passed out from pure frustration as he heard everyone laughing and Vanitas cry out one last “Brother-!”, although sounding more concerned than annoying this time.

He _really_ had to get Vanitas to stop calling him that.


	3. Snowball Fight of Doom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ventus and Vanitas can get along, but can Vanitas get along with Ventus’s mom-friend and dad-friend? Surveys say no, but Terra’s going to try and make everyone get along anyway.
> 
> Part of VanVen Week - Day 5 - Warmth | Bleed | Remembrance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MERRY CHRISTMAS!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

“C’mon Ven, it’s been a while since we all hung out together!” Terra said, ruffling his hair.

“Well, maybe if SOMEONE…” Vanitas said, jabbing a thumb in Aqua’s direction, “...wasn’t so opposed to being around us-“

“Ven is OUR friend, not yours!” Aqua hissed back. “Obviously I’m not opposed to being around Ven, it’s just you that I don’t want to be anywhere near.”

Ventus put his head in his hand. It had been like this ever since Vanitas came back. Ventus had spent a lot of time considering if he would be okay with Vanitas coming back, and the results were positive, but he just couldn’t get Aqua on board with it.

Terra laughed awkwardly and patted both Ventus and Vanitas on the shoulder, a little too roughly so they nearly fell over. “Right! Well! How about we talk about this over some hot cocoa, huh?” There was no reply. Vanitas and Aqua continued to grumpily avoid eye contact, and Ventus looked to the ground, not sure what to even say. “Right… Okay, then.”

Aqua finally looked up when she heard a pair of surprised noises. Terra had hoisted Ventus and Vanitas over his shoulders, Vanitas squirming to get out of his grip, and was now walking towards Aqua.

“C’mon. We’re going to have fun in the snow, right Aqua?” He smiled down at her.

“I really don’t-“

“I’m sure I could carry these two on one shoulder and you on the other.”

“....I’ll… Walk, thanks…” Aqua sighed in defeat. She was sure she could stop him, but was it really worth the effort? She missed Ven, and supposed she could put up with Vanitas for a little while so they could all hang out again.

They traveled to the snowy mountains of Arendelle, deciding to enjoy the snow before heading to town for some nice warm cocoa. Aqua made sure they were all dressed for the weather. Well.. almost all of them, anyway.

“I really didn’t plan on going through with this if you came along, so I didn’t have any winter clothes prepared for you.” She said, shrugging half-heartedly at Vanitas.

“Hah, l-like I need something like that anyway!” He wasn’t exactly convincing, shivering half to death in a skintight suit.

“What happened to that black suit you were wearing with the organization?” Ventus asked.

“I-It didn’t exa-actly reform with me in the r-realm of darkness. It’s made to protect people f-from the darkness, after a… ahh…” He sneezed loudly and finally brought his hands up to his arms, trying to warm up.

Terra hummed in thought, then fished something out of his pocket. He started to wrap his thick fuzzy coat around Vanitas, but was met quickly with protest. “I don’t need your lousy-!”

“You’re going to freeze to death.” Terra stood up tall and looked down at Vanitas as if he was his minion. “Do as I say. This mission is too important for you to be stubborn about it.”

He got a weirded-out grimace in reply. “You weren’t exactly m-my boss back in the organization, you know. Y-y-you were being possessed, a-anyw- HEY!” Vanitas swatted at Terra’s hand as he ruffled the shorter boy’s hair, much the same as he had often done to Ventus before. Terra quickly swooped the jacket around Vanitas, pulling him forward with a quick jerking motion to keep him off balance. He did this a few more times as he got the buttons done. “Stop! I’ll wear the stupid jacket, just stop jerking me around!!”

Terra laughed and settled down. No one could see it, but Vanitas had his arms crossed under the coat, though they did see his huffy pouting face. Ventus was glad he could blame his blush on the cold air, he couldn’t help but think Vanitas looked cute like that. He was glad that Terra got along with him, it would be nice to have him around more if he could get Vanitas to behave.

“Alright, almost done.” Terra said, pulling the thing back out that he’d gotten from his pocket earlier. “Put your arms through the sleeves.” Vanitas huffed, not wanting to admit that he didn’t want to put his arms back out in the cold again. But, after a minute, he did as he was told. Terra took his hand and placed a bracelet over his wrist. “Ice bangle. It increases your resistance to ice magic.”

Vanitas lifted his arm to look it over. It fit snugly over the bracelet that he’d still refused to give back to Ventus. “I’m not sure that snow really counts as ‘ice magic’, but…” He looked down at Terra and immediately regretted it. The more time Ventus and Vanitas spent together, the more their hearts grew in synch, which Vanitas had found gave him strange emotional side effects in odd situations. Currently, the warm smile from the man was making him feel sick. His heart felt a warm familiarity, but as he was unaccustomed to it, the feeling also caused his heart to do queasy backflips. He shoved a hand in Terra’s dumb cheery face and glared at Ventus. “Fuck you!!”

“What?!” Ventus flinched back, but Vanitas didn’t explain. He just shoved Terra backwards, causing him to fall back in the snow and stomped off towards a treeline. He felt sick. He felt really really sick and didn’t want to see any of their dumb faces, or for any of them to see his dumb face right now.

Aqua rolled her eyes. “Gee, do you always treat people like this when they do you a favor?” Vanitas just shoved his hands in the warm fuzzy coat pockets and grumbled.

“Heyyy, no we’re having fun today!” Terra chimed in, still laying on the ground. He spread out his arms and legs, making a snow angel. “No fighting, you two!” He hopped up and dusted himself off as he inspected the newly formed snow angel. He then put his hands on his hips and looked back and forth between Aqua and Vanitas, who were both still in pretty bad moods.

He smirked and bent down to scoop up some snow as he got an idea. “Well, I guess we could fight _a little…_ ” Ventus’s brow furrowed until he got the picture, and started running excitedly to get behind a bush to grab up his own snow. Aqua sighed, unamused at first, until she noticed that Vanitas was still turned to ignore them. She dodged a snowball from Terra, ducking and rolling to a halt to gather a snowball, too.

“Heads up!” Aqua called out a warning signal, but Vanitas didn’t realize it was directed at him until a sudden painful chill hit the back of his head. He jumped forward, shivering, then spun around angrily.

“Snowball fight!” Ventus cheered before tossing out several attacks from behind the safety of his bush. Vanitas lifted an arm to block any from hitting him, but looked around in confusion as everyone was laughing and pelting each other with snow. He took Ventus’s lead and hid behind a tree on the opposite side of the clearing and watched as Terra and Aqua barraged each other with snow, neither one having bothered to claim a fort.

It took a minute for Vanitas to get it, but it seemed to be some kind of game. He didn’t see the appeal, considering how cold this icy stuff was, but maybe they were all covered up enough that it didn’t bother them. They all had hats, gloves, scarves, the whole nine yards. Vanitas looked down at the icy frost. He tried to scoop some up, but the cold nipped at his hands when he did. He grumbled, it was surprisingly painful. Not the most painful thing ever, he’d been through much worse, but this was a fairly unfamiliar pain. He rubbed his hands together and sat with his back facing the tree. This whole thing was stupid. At least he thought it was stupid… until he got an idea.

Vanitas summoned a pair of floods, and had them scoop up the snow for him. It took them a lot longer than Terra and Aqua, since their hands were so tiny and pointy, but once they had a few stacked up, Vanitas peered back behind the tree. The adults were getting carried away, but Vanitas saw Ventus, looking back over to where he had hidden. He looked worried. Vanitas poked his head out a bit more so Ventus could see a mischievous smirk on his face and his heart beat a little faster when Ventus’s face lit up with relief and a little excitement. That was quickly replaced by Ventus’s own mischievous smirk as he ducked down, picked up a snowball and hurled it at Vanitas, who ducked back behind the tree.

Vanitas wasn’t able to get ammunition as quickly as the others, and he didn’t want to waste his first shot on Ventus. That lady had picked a fight, and he planned to finish it. In that time, his lackeys had managed to make another snowball, so he had four now. He grabbed one, signaling for one of the floods to carry a couple as the other made more. Vanitas crouched beneath the line of sight above the brush, peeking over every so often to make sure he was keeping up with Aqua. He was going to time and aim this perfectly as revenge. He waited for her back to be turned, for her to be close enough to his hiding spot. Finally, with a swift movement, he jumped up and threw it, hitting her square in the back of the neck. She jumped with a squeal, and Vanitas cackled as he scampered farther along the tree line.

“You’ll pay for that…!” She called, sounding _almost_ as if she was having fun, still. She aimed low in the treeline, nearly hitting Vanitas a few times even with the protection of the trees. Was she using magic to cheat on her throws?! He wasn’t sure, but he thought he wouldn’t be able to hide there much longer. Vanitas spotted a tree that was topled halfway over, resting in the branches of another tree. He took a snowball from his flood and ordered it to throw the other one to distract Aqua as he scampered up the tree. It had succeeded in tricking Aqua and Terra, but as Ventus had ran across the clearing while the others were distracted, he caught Vanitas in the act. The two locked eyes and raised their arms to throw their snowballs, but Vanitas’s footing slipped, knocking him off-balance. Ventus managed to hit him in the chest, as he was aiming for the coat so that Vanitas wouldn’t freeze at the contact, but it caused Vanitas to fall out of the tree. He lost his grip on his snowball and it wound up falling and splatting him in the face.

Ventus cringed at the fall, but laughed and ran forward to make sure Vanitas was okay. He got pelted with a couple snowballs from Terra and Aqua as he made his way through the trees, but ducked behind the fallen tree to smile down at Vanitas. His eyes were closed and he was grimacing with that grouchy expression he’d been wearing all day.

Ventus laughed and dusted the snow off of Vanitas’s face. “You okay? You fell from pretty high up.”

No response.

“Vanitas?” Ventus nudged his shoulder, but still got no response. The cheerful look slowly faded from Ventus’s face as he looked over Vanitas. He saw a glint of red peeking from behind the other’s head. Ventus’s expression ran cold. “Terra! Aqua!” He dashed out of the trees, narrowly dodging snowballs until they saw his worried look.

Vanitas groaned as he slowly sat up. It was hard both from the pain in the back of his head, but also from the heavy blankets covering him. “What the hell…?”

“You’re okay!” Vanitas squinted as he looked to his side. His vision was still blurry when he felt someone wrapping their arms around him, so he struggled at first. “It’s just me, Vanitas! Ventus! Did that knock on the head make you forget?” Vanitas settled down as he heard Ventus’s voice. His eyes slowly adjusted, and he realized he was in a wooden cabin, decorated all over in quaint, charming decor. He was laying on a couch, and on the coffee table in front of him was a bowl made of woven wood, holding a few apples and sitting on an ornate diamond-shaped sheet, with just the corners draping over the edge of the table. Four mugs sat on the table, one of which, that was the one closest to Vanitas, still had something inside. Across from that was a fireplace, crackling with a comforting heat.

“Where the fuck are we. What happened?” Vanitas groaned out.

Ventus backed up so Vanitas could see his face. He smiled, but he looked a little worried… or remorseful? “You hit your head on a rock during the snowball fight. We had to rush you to the cabin, but…” He looked up, and Vanitas laid back down, following his gaze to see Terra and Aqua were here too, both looking down at him. Terra looked concerned, but Vanitas couldn’t quite read Aqua’s expression. He was sure she couldn’t actually be worried about him, though. At least, until Ventus continued his train of thought. “...Aqua cast healing magic on you, so you should be okay, I think.”

Aqua and Vanitas locked eyes. Both were uncomfortable.

Aqua crossed her arms and looked away. “Ventus was worried about you. And… Seeing you like that…” It had reminded her of all the times she had to patch up Ventus’s wounds. Reminded her of the brief time she spent with Sora. She let out a small breath. “...Well, anyway. I guess…” She turned, still not facing Vanitas directly, but looking back at him. “...I could have been a little nicer to you before. I don’t trust you, but Ven cares about you.” She shrugged, her eyebrows were tilted, but she smiled. “I guess we’ll just have to learn to put up with each other.”

Her face softened, and Vanitas’s heart panged when he saw her genuine smile. That same familiar warmth he felt when Terra smiled at him. Now they both were smiling down at him, but after a moment their expressions shifted. It looked like… Worry? Almost?

“Vanitas?” It wasn’t until Ventus wiped the tear from his flushed cheek that Vanitas realized he was crying. His face scrunched up and he hid under the covers. He felt sick. He felt really really sick.

“I’m not going to be a friend to either of you, if that’s what you think.” Vanitas choked out.

Ventus wilted until Terra put a hand on his shoulder, looking him in the eyes before turning to Vanitas. “Not sure you have a choice in the matter if you’re going to be around Ventus all the time.” His voice was cheerful, and Vanitas hated how comforted that made him feel.

“No, he’s right.” Aqua stated matter-of-factly. Terra looked at her quizzically, but she continued. “It won’t be easy for us to get along, I really doubt us three can become friends just because of Ventus. But I’m willing to tolerate Vanitas, as long as he doesn’t hurt Ventus.”

Vanitas let out a huff. “I’m not really interested, but.” He hesitated, chewing on his lip for a moment before continuing. “Thanks for the, uh. Blessing. Or whatever.” He squirmed as he felt Terra trying to ruffle his hair through the covers. “Ugh, I wouldn’t have to put up with this if you’d just fuse with me, Ventus!”

“As if!” Ventus called back. “My friends are my friends no matter what, that would just make them your friends sooner!”

“Aagh, noooo…! Nevermind, then!” Everyone laughed as Vanitas whined and rolled over, trying to bury himself under the blankets. “Shut up! I’m going back to sleep!”

“What about your cocoa?” Ventus chuckled. It was no use, though. Vanitas felt so sick and squirmy, a sweet drink would have made him feel worse anyway.


End file.
